High electricity demands and subsequent power shortages expected to occur this summer.

The Israel Electric Corporation has requested that the Energy and Water Ministry
convince the government to declare an official “state of emergency” for the
Israeli electricity market.

On Monday, the IEC launched a multi-day,
comprehensive exercise to evaluate the country’s preparedness for the high
electricity demands and subsequent power shortages that are expected to occur
this summer.

Following the exercise, the company concluded that during
peak electricity demands this summer it will only have 1 percent reserve
electricity, according to an “immediate report” that the company submitted to
both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israel Securities Authority on
Wednesday.

Consequently, if an accidental mishap occurs in even one of
the IEC’s production units, or if extreme weather conditions bring an increase
in demand, the company will likely not be able to provide enough power to its
consumers.

People should therefore expect power outages in such cases,
for hours in the most extreme conditions, the report said.

The IEC is
currently preparing – in collaboration with teams from the Energy and Water
Ministry – to address what the company calls an “acute crisis,” and has thereby
asked the ministry to exercise its authority to officially declare, with
governmental approval a “state of emergency” in the electricity sector,
according to the report.

This would enable the company to temporarily
stop supplying electricity to consumers for periods of time without violating
the law, licenses and contractual obligations, the report said.

In
response, the Energy and Water Ministry – headed by Uzi Landau – said that
“declaring a state of emergency is part of a broad spectrum of measures to cope
with the summer’s electricity supply.

Currently, administrative work is
being prepared in the government ministries regarding this,” the ministry said.